Girls Basketball: Spring-Ford wins first PIAA title in school history

HERSHEY — There was no yelling and screaming at halftime, just a request to play the type of Spring-Ford basketball that shot the Rams on a 23-game winning streak and into the PIAA-Class AAAA final Friday evening here in the Giant Center.

The Rams responded.And, boy (or girl), was there a whole lot of hooting and hollering afterward.

After leading by just two at the break, thanks to a buzzer-beating, three-point bomb by Maggie Locke to end the first half, the Rams turned up the tempo, tightened up its defense, and – as they have time and time and time again this memorable season – went on yet another break-out run in the third quarter en route to a 60-45 romp over Cumberland Valley for the state title.

It was only Spring-Ford’s second state championship, and first since Lonnie Dalton and James Franey combined to win the track and field Class B state championship 46 long, long years ago.

“This is pretty amazing,” said senior Sammi Haas, whose accuracy from beyond the three-point arc (3-for-5) accounted for most her 11 points. “I thought winning the District 1 championship was awesome, but this is pretty cool.”

“It hasn’t hit me yet,” added Brittany Moore, who was just as accurate from beyond the three-point arc (3-for-5) and finished with 11 points, too. “This is just an unreal feeling.”

“This is definitely the sweetest place on earth,” said Sammy Stipa, the third Spring-Ford starter with 11 points. “I like the taste of victory.”

Spring-Ford, which finished with a school-record 32-2 overall mark, got as balanced and as productive of play from Haas, Moore, Stipa and fellow starters Shelby Mueller and Sarah Payonk, as well as from regulars Maggie Locke and Courtney Hinnant, as it had all season.

When anyone stumbled through that seesaw first half, someone else stepped up.

Then in the second, there simply weren’t any missteps ... and the run they’ve made to bury teams in the past, the run everyone seemed to be waiting for throughout the first half, finally began less than a minute into the third quarter. Or right after Cumberland Valley (26-7) evened everything up at 27-27 on a pair of free throws by Jackie Falconer.

Moore swished a 3-pointer; Stipa turned a steal into an easy bucket, Payonk scored from underneath; Hinnant took a half-court pass from Stipa for an uncontested layup; Payonk added another bucket from up close; Haas knocked down a 3-pointer from the left side; and Stipa scored on a turn-around jumper in the lane. Cumberland Valley could only answer with two more foul shots from Kelly Jekot and a baseline jumper – the Eagles’ only field goal of the entire third quarter – by Taylor Sneidman with 2:05 showing on the clock.

Cumberland Valley was just 1-for-8 from the field and, combined with five turnovers, shot Spring-Ford in front 43-31 ... and the state championship t-shirts were already being printed.

“In the first and second quarters we just weren’t playing exactly 100 percent like we can,” said Stipa, who had six assists and six steals as well. “We picked it up a notch in the second half. I don’t think anyone can play with us when we do that.”

“I just think we were letting the level of the game get in our heads,” added Locke. “Then we settled down and played Spring-Ford basketball, played our game.”

Cumberland Valley, which got a game-high 18 points from Falconer – who was just 5 of 18 from the floor –and 12 more from Jekot, simply couldn’t match the Rams’ high-pressure, in-your-face defense, their intensity, over the final two quarters.

“Our pressure gets us going,” said Haas, who also had five assists. “It’s our staple. So we were saying to let it all out on the court. We didn’t want to leave anything out there.”

“We weren’t too concerned,” Moore said of the nailbiting first half. “We just picked it up. I think our pressure took its toll on (Cumberland Valley).

“We just had to focus on defense,” added Locke, who came off the bench to contribute the long-distance shot right before the half and – after 17 minutes of play – closed with seven points and seven rebounds. “We just wanted to make everything count.”

The Rams did, especially in the final quarter, when Falconer scored six points to cut Cumberland Valley’s deficit to 10 at 47-37 with 5:40 remaining. But then came yet another Spring-Ford surge ... Payonk’s put-back, Moore’s bomb from the corner on the right side; Shelby Mueller’s layup; and Payonk’s two free throws – Spring-Ford’s first foul shots of the entire night with 2:01 left in the game.

That quickly it was 58-41.Spring-Ford was, as it had throughout the long season, looked as good as gold.

And when the Rams got their hands on the gold medals, gone – at last – was the emptiness and frustration of falling one win shy of the state final following last year’s semifinal setback to Archbishop Carroll.”

“Last year was such a huge letdown,” Moore said. “So we knew what we had to do and we’ve been preparing for this. We knew we just had to trust each other. We did, and this is what confidence gave us.”

“We never lost focus,” Payonk said. “We know how we got so close last year. We just knew everyone had to stay focused in every game.”

“I think we were a little nervous at first with the atmosphere and everything else,” Stipa said. “We just had to tune everything out and play Spring-Ford basketball.”

They did ... and for that, and that alone, Jeff Rinehimer – in his 19th season guiding the Rams’ program – couldn’t have been happier.

“(Cumberland Valley) is such an outstanding team with so much skill,” he said. “To beat a team like that you have to dig down deep, and our girls did it. I couldn’t be more prouder of them.

“When you lose people like Mariah (Traywick), Nikki (Lynch) and Jaida (Burgess), when you lose seniors like that as we did from last year’s team, you may lose that chemistry. So doing this, winning the state title, was a credit to these girls. They came everyday to play basketball and kept everything in perspective.”

“When we play together we feel we’re unstoppable,” Haas added.

And did they ever play together for the final 16 minutes of Friday night’s state final.

“This is pretty cool,” Haas said.

•••NOTES: Hinnant had six points and a team-high eight rebounds in 20 minutes. Combined with Locke’s effort, that gave Rinheimer 13 points and 15 boards from his two key subs off the bench. ... Mueller, who was plagued with foul trouble, still managed to contribute six points and three rebounds. ... The Rams shot 47 percent (24 of 51) from the floor and were a perfect 4 of 4 from the line – all four of those coming in the last two minutes. They also finished with a 30-22 advantage in rebounds, but actually turned it over one more time (20-19) than the Eagles did. ... There were only two ties and eight lead exchanges the entire night.